Netflix has officially confirmed the hiring of its new Chief Financial Officer Spencer Neumann, formerly CFO at Activision Blizzard. The announcement directly follows reports from Reuters and Wall Street Journal which said Netflix had poached Neumann from Activision and would start him in his new position this year.

CNBC on Wednesday reported Neumann had been fired from Activision two days ago, because he was pursuing another job. Activision declined to state the cause of his firing, saying only that it was “unrelated to the Company’s financial reporting or disclosure controls and procedures,” in a regulatory filing.

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Activision said Dennis Durkin, who was CFO from 2012 through 2017, would return to his role to replace Neumann.

At Netflix, Neumann will replace David Wells, who served as CFO since 2010.

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“Spencer is a stellar entertainment executive and we’re thrilled that he will help us provide amazing stories to people all over the world,” said Reed Hastings, Netflix Chief Executive Officer, in a statement. “I also want to again say thank you to David Wells, on behalf of the company and our shareholders, for his invaluable contributions at Netflix over the past 14 years.”

Neumann became CFO at Activision Blizzard in May 2017. Prior to that, he held a number of roles within Disney and elsewhere. From 2012 up until...